Farmers crowded into the offices of state legislators to discuss issues facing Wisconsin’s agricultural industries Wednesday as part of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Ag Day at the Capitol.
“Everybody, come on in!” Rep. Barb Gronemus shouted to the farm families and businessmen wandering outside her office. “We’ll just pretend we’re at an auction.”
Gronemus read like an auctioneer from a list of compiled concerns and legislative actions relating to farming. Not all the farmers in the office were from Gronemus’s district, but most see Gronemus, a former farmer, as an agriculture leader in the Legislature.
Agriculture businessmen headed for the Capitol from Monona Terrace, where they spent the afternoon listening to Gov. Jim Doyle, Secretary of Agriculture Rod Nilsestuen and a panel of key legislators speaking on farming initiatives and the state’s budget.
Leaders at the conference discussed various programs that would make purchasing health-insurance plans for small business like farms financially feasible.
In his budget proposal Gov. Jim Doyle said he plans to make health care insurance more available to smaller businesses and more affordable for farmers. Doyle said in his February budget presentation that his budget would “provide buying pools to make prescription drugs and health insurance for small businesses and farm families more affordable.”
“The farmers were very concerned about health care,” Gronemus said. “This is something they definitely want to see us do.”
Gronemus said that virtually ever farmer she met with expressed concern over milk protein concentrates that are being imported into the country and that are increasingly used by cheese producers as a milk substitute. The milk protein concentrate (MPC) brought into the United States was intended to be used as livestock feed but is now being utilized by some cheese manufacturers. Gronemus also said that imported MPC is not intended for human consumption.
Ann Veneman, U.S. secretary of agriculture, has placed a tariff on MPC, but Wisconsin farmers hope that more will be done to discourage its use in cheese production.
“The state of Wisconsin is known throughout the world for its dairy production,” Gronemus said. “Consumer confidence in quality products is a big part of the industry.”
A U.S. Department of Agriculture report filed Wednesday addressing the state of the Midwest cheese industry reported current prices for cheese are 10 cents lower than at this time last year and lower than this time in every year since at least 1994.
Another major issue Wisconsin’s dairy industry faces is the lowest price for milk allowed by government regulation.
“They want a price for their product,” said Gronemus.
The current base price for milk is $8.30 for every 100 pounds produced.
“They simply can’t survive with a base price of $8.30,” Gronemus said. “Now there are other things they can do to get a little bit more for their product, but they usually get the minimum, which certainly does not cover the cost of production.”
Basic milk production in the state is an $18.5 billion yearly industry without factoring in other dairy products that use milk as a main ingredient.
“As long as Wisconsin is having such a hard time with such a low base price, it will hurt our economy,” Gronemus said.
Gronemus believed Ag Day was a positive experience that allowed farmers to ask questions and rest assured that the government was listening to their concerns.
Farmers from aquaculture, beef and poultry production, the dairy industry and cranberry bogs all got together to talk about agricultural legislation.
“It’s a great idea in that it gives us a chance to meet the legislators and the governor,” said Ray Wagner, a University of Wisconsin graduate and a Verona farmer. “It seems the legislature is fair-minded, and everyone is looking out for our best interests in one way or another.”
